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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 449 10th April 2009 Satcom 09: Africa’s satellite providers find themselves looking at a less rosy futureSatcom is the African satellite industry’s annual get-together and this year’s was held this week. On the second day of the conference the West African Cable System announced the signing of an over-subscribed fundraising. And this is only one of half a dozen international fibre projects that will be built. At the conference itself, new satellite entrants announced services that were both innovative and cheaper. Russell Southwood looks at how all this will change things for a regional satellite industry that has more or less been the main provider of bandwidth for the continent. Guns to the left of them, guns to the right of them, it was not a comfortable conference for the more traditional satellite operators and resellers. On the one side, there was the ever-present story of the imminent arrival of much, much cheaper international fibre capacity. So although there are a number of new satellite launches (including Intelsat’s New Dawn) that in any other year would have held people’s attention, the spotlight kept drifting back towards the impact of the new fibre. As if that was not distracting enough for those wanting to get their message across, a number of new entrants were offering some combination of innovation and price drops. O3B, which launches its constellation of satellites in 2010, was offering carrier grade satellite capacity with low latency at fibre or near fibre prices. On a much smaller scale, Asia Broadcast Satellite was pitching satellite capacity for just above 03B’s prices for delivery in 2011. Based broadly on the US Wild Blue model, Yahsat was promoting its satellite broadband service YahClick for US$350 per site (FOB) at US$30 a month upwards for the user. And as Tata’s Head of Africa - Global Data Solutions said with a broad smile on his face:”It’s all good.” Intelsat’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel Phil Spector might respond that neither 03B nor Yahsat had operational satellites but somehow the blow intended failed to make much impact. Indeed the traditional satellite operators seemed strangely passive. Improvements in modulation or compression? That’s up to the manufacturers. (To be fair, Intelsat’s Regional VP Flavien Babachi mentioned putting a router on a satellite and we await the results of that with interest.) Any plans to provide keener pricing? That will only happen if there’s a glut in the market and that’s unlikely. Why no new satellite broadband services? Our operator customers aren’t asking for them. They will not be able to stick to this script over the next five years: something has got to change. Cheaper fibre and satellite prices will mean that operators and resellers will take their business elsewhere. Part of this is the natural transition that occurs when fibre arrives and national backbones begin to connect demand to the new international fibres. 90% of demand in most countries is found in their urban centres and these will soon be connected to landing stations. The process of doing this will by itself create a series of inter-country fibre connections. Both those with satellite and fibre were at pains to point out that they were complementary (which they are) but the scale of transition about to occur made this seem simply like an act of good manners that did not quite ring true. So what’s the upside for the traditional satellite operators faced with this transition? * Despite the economic downturn, there will continued above-average overall growth in bandwidth demand at least up until 2013. So some of the effects of the transition to fibre will be blurred by everyone wanting more of everything. * Fibre is new to Africa and some countries neither have the capacity to run it effectively nor is it always safe and secure. Ethiopia’s link to Sudan is a case in point which means that ETC is still a large purchaser of satellite bandwidth. Nevertheless the opening of the new route through Djibouti should improve matters. One operator was reporting that new fibre customers were signing up for 25% of their capacity on satellite as redundancy to cover these kinds of issues. 03B’s Greg Wyler made much of fibre outages in the Suez Canal. But with fibre routes up both sides of the continent, even that risk is to some degree mitigated. * According to GSMA figures, 66% of Africa’s population now has GSM coverage. This disguises a range of progress from Uganda with 90% of its population covered to countries that still have only 30-40% population coverage. Satellite cellular backhaul will continue to fill this demand but as these will be low ARPU locations, operators will be under considerable cost pressures and will look hard at all pricing. * Finally, many users have long-standing contracts (10-15 years) and it will be some time before the natural consequences of the transition are fully felt. But whilst this will be of some comfort in the short to medium term, it is not a long-term defensive position. A number of global satellite operators have significant parts of both their turnover and profitability coming from the continent: half of Intelsat’s fleet serves Africa. This is bound to change and the only question is by how much? Some snapshots of the exchanges at the conference give some idea of the shifting of the tectonic plates: * It’s pricing, stupid: Brian Herlihy, CEO of Seacom spoke about offering prices of between US$50-300 an mbps per month and whilst IRUs might add as much as 20% in interest payments, this is still much sunnier that the US$4-6,000 per mbps currently being charged for satellite. Better still, Seacom is promising this price wherever the capacity lands, whether in a coastal country or one inland. Paul Edwards, Chair of Nigeria’s largest CDMA operator Starcomms said he had been offered US$100 per mbps on one of the west coast fibres. In addition, O3B’s pricing is pitched fairly close to these numbers. The traditional satellite operators are stuck: they either have to take what’s left over or come up with something innovative technically which will improve their price offer. If they do, then it runs the risk of cannibalising existing revenues. (According to a report in an international industry paper, 03B has been in discussions with both SES New Skies and Intelsat. Read that how you will. Who’s courting who?) * Price elasticity provides massive increases: Tata’s Steven Van Der Lind described the process of transitioning customers from satellite to fibre. Three years ago, their assumption was that it would be a 1:1 replacement. As the likely fibre prices became more established, customers started asking for the equivalent of a 2:1 replacement. Recently he has signed contracts where the increase has been 10-15 times the original capacity being utilised. The arrival of fibre is also having an impact for those dealing with short-term satellite needs. Tom Omariba, Managing Director of UUNet Kenya (who have bought fibre capacity) said that they were “technology-neutral” in meeting their customers needs but increasingly it was leasing them satellite equipment. * Pushing to the edge of market: Vodacom DRC’s Alain Malanda, Head of Transmission, Data Planning and Optimisation is probably one of the candidates for satellite cellular backhaul as DRC has few roads, let alone. However, he told the conference that 50% of his national traffic was carried by microwave and fibre and 50% by satellite. And whilst he was clear that they were still pushing out coverage, they had undergone an optimisation exercise on its satellite capacity to get more for less. The DRC Government’s announcement of a fibre route to the coast and the likely connection of Lumumbashi will also eat into the 100% of international traffic currently going by satellite. Timescale: 2-3 years? * The 2010 bonus: Mashilo Boloka, Director: Broadcasting Policy at South Africa’s Department of Communications gave an update on preparations for the 2010 World Cup. He said that the fibre network between the 10 host stadiums and the International Broadcast Centre would be ready for the Confederation Cup in June 2009 and that a second teleport was being provide for outgoing links. The satellite industry has done the continent a tremendous service when no-one was thinking of building the scale of fibre now being undertaken and whatever happens, it will still be the only technology to reach widely dispersed populations. It’s also hard to believe that the global operators will not come up with some innovations to strengthen their positions. However, it’s fair to say that the industry has had its five years of feast and may be entering a period where food is in somewhat shorter supply.
RP Capital’s MoU to evaluate Zamtel’s assets comes under scrutiny of TribunalZambia’s Minister of Communications and Transport, Dora Siliya got herself into hot water last week over the MoU she signed with RP Capital Partners to value Zamtel’s assets for partial privatisation. Whether or not the MoU has been annulled, RP Capital Partners will still be eligible for five per cent of the proceeds. Siliya said her ministry signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with RP Capital Partners Caymans Islands Limited with full blessings of Solicitor General, Dominic Sichinga. And Siliya has also testified that former First Lady, Maureen Mwanawasa sent then State House chief analyst for press, David Kombe to influence ministry officials in considering awarding an e-Governance tender to the Chinese vendor ZTE. Attorney General, Mumba Malila has testified that the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) complained that his chambers did not properly handle the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the evaluation of Zamtel assets. Malila also said that Solicitor General, Dominic Sichinga never informed him that Communications and Transport Minister, Dora Siliya complained that the legal opinion missed the point on the MoU. He said the ZDA board felt that their obligations could not be met because their functions were not mentioned in the document. "ZDA concerns were that it had complained that their obligation could not be done as they were not mentioned in the MoU, so they concluded that the attorney general's chambers did not perform a good advice," he said. He said his representative at the ZDA board, Patricia Jere told him that the board had concerns with the MoU and they felt that he should have personally handled it. He also said he declared the MoU between the Government and RP Capital Partners on the evaluation of Zamtel assets a nullity after it was signed. Malila told the tribunal probing the conduct of Ms Siliya that he wrote his letter advising that the MoU was a nullity on January 5, 2009 when the document was signed on December 22, 2008. The minister is alleged to have unilaterally cancelled a duly awarded contract by the Zambia National Tender Board (ZNTB) for the supply, installation and commissioning of Air Traffic Management Surveillance Radar Systems at Lusaka and Livingstone airports. She is also alleged to have awarded RP Capital Partners a US$2 million contract to value Zamtel assets disregarding legal advice from the attorney general, and in the last allegation, she is said to have abused constituency development funds (CDF) in Petauke. Malila said he was also not aware that another MoU was signed on January 9, 2009 and his advice referred to the first opinion offered by the solicitor general on November 21, 2008. He said the MoU signed on January 9, 2009 was not taken to his chambers for approval and it was brought to his attention by Ms Jere who was his representative on the ZDA board. The attorney general, who was speaking at the closure of the tribunal, said what was ultimately signed was a document that did not comply with the advice from his chambers. He said his advice was copied to Cabinet office and to the president's special assistant for legal and others in the interest of the country because he was aware that the president wanted the Zamtel issue to be resolved in a fair and quick manner. Malila, who expressed shock that RP Capital and Partners had already started evaluating the Zamtel assets even after declaring the MoU null and void, observed that Ms Siliya ignored his advice. He explained that on November 12, 2008,acting Communications and Transport Permanent Secretary, Victor Imbwae wrote to his office requesting for legal advice but that he delegated the issue to Sichinga, because he was leaving the country. He said on November 21, 2008, acting Principal Counsel, Inonge Kwendamwene in the solicitor general's chambers wrote a letter to the ministry in which she rendered the required legal opinion. He said on November 25, 2008, Sichinga wrote another letter to Ms Siliya suggesting that the MoU should be clearer to safeguard the interest of the public. He said when he returned to Zambia, he was given the file for the MoU and saw a letter that indicated that Sichinga had meetings with Ms Siliya over the MoU and that he would not be averse to the signing of the MoU if advice was followed. He said he first saw an MoU on which the ZDA did not sign, which was in line with reports he received that the ZDA board was against the MoU because it was supposed to be a signatory. Malila added that it was not usual for his office to review any opinions endorsed by the solicitor general but in the case of the MoU his review was prompted by complaints from ZDA. He said when he reviewed the MoU, he discovered that the legal opinion given on November 21, 2008 by Ms Kwendamwene and that of Mr Sichinga on November 25 was also largely not taken into account. "It is important to heed to the legal advice from the attorney general's office because ignoring such is as good as not seeking it in the first place and failure to seek such advice is contrary to article 54 of the Constitution," he said. Malila told the tribunal that in an event that there was no evaluation and sale of Zamtel assets, the Government would be in breach of the financial obligations as the MoU was binding. Being led by the petitioners' lawyer, Bonaventure Mutale, Malila said if the Government decided to sell Zamtel to another company, it would still have to pay RP Capital Partners five per cent of the proceeds. He said some paragraphs in the MoU implied that it would be governed by Zambian laws and RP Capital Partners would not be interested in Government's internal procedures but that the MoU was binding. When led by Ms Siliya's lawyer, Eric Sliwamba, Malila said he saw documents related to the MoU between December 25 and December 30, 2008 and that Sichinga briefed him on the two meetings he had with Ms Siliya. He said Sichinga told him that he had made suggestions to the MoU some of which had been taken on board and he never mentioned that Ms Siliya had said that the attorney general's chambers had missed the point in the advice. He said Sichinga never told him that he had to re-look at his earlier opinion of November 21, 2008, adding that the letter the solicitor general wrote was unclear to him. He also said he was not informed that the legal opinion missed the point because it talked about the sale of Zamtel when the issue was about evaluation of assets. He said if he was told that the MoU was about evaluation of shares and not the sale of Zamtel, he could have changed it. He said in his letter, he addressed himself to the sale of Zamtel and raised other issues that his subordinates did not raise but it was after the MoU of December 22 was signed. The tribunal closed last week and lawyers from both parties were given up to this afternoon to tender their written submissions to enable it read through and prepare its findings. (Source: Times of Zambia) MobiNil Egypt: France Telecom wins Orascom shares through ICC arbitrationIn 2007 Orascom Telecom initiated an arbitration against France Telecom at the Arbitration Court of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). Both companies are shareholders of MobiNil. Orascom Telecom sought an award ordering France Telecom to transfer its MobiNil shares to Orascom Telecom. The Arbitration Court issued an award rejecting Orascom Telecom’s claims and saying it should transfer its entire stake in MobiNil to France Telecom by April 10, 2009 at a price of EGP 441,658 per MobiNil share. France Telecom currently holds 71.25% of the capital of MobiNil, a holding company owning 51% of ECMS, which is the company that renders its services under the MobiNil brand. The 20% equity interest that Orascom Telecom holds directly in ECMS, as well as the free float of ECMS, do not fall within the scope of the ICC award. Further to the acquisition of the Orascom Telecom stake in MobiNil for approximately €530 million, France Telecom will have full control over the leading mobile operator in Egypt. France Telecom will therefore be able to consolidate the entire financial results of ECMS. On the basis of the 2008 results, this represents additional annual revenues of over €360 million and EBITDA of €��165 million. Such global consolidation should also have a positive impact on the generation of organic cash flow. On 31 December 2008, MobiNil had 20.1 million clients (+33% within 1 year) and booked an increase of revenues of 21% (to £10 billion) and of Ebitda of 27% (to £4.68 millions) compared to the 2007 annual results. To carry out the transfer of shares within MobiNil, France Telecom is working in close collaboration with the stock market authorities in Egypt. Ethiopia Launches Telephone Network Targeting 12 Million SubscribersLast Sunday Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) announced it wanted to get 12 million subscribers up from its current total of 4.1 million. ETC said it would expand its capacity to six million subscribers in the first phase of the project. This work has been underwritten by a US$1.5 billion loan from Chinese vendor ZTE. ETC also announced that as of 2 April 2009 that it will reduce the cost of a mobile prepaid SIM card from US$36 to US$16. This is still expensive compared to SIM cards in other African countries that retail for US$5 or less. (Source: APA) Zain cuts 141 staff in Kenya and looks at job cuts elsewhere in AfricaZain has cut 141 staff in Kenya as part of a group restructuring designed to help it weather the effects of the global economic downturn. It has also cut staff in Nigeria earlier in the year. Zain`s CEO for Africa Chris Gabriel announced the job cuts in Nairobi last Monday, but added it was too early to work out what the programme would cost or save Zain. Studies would be carried out in other countries to determine whether job cuts were required, he explained. However, Gabriel said the new business model would push the company into becoming a top 10 global mobile operator by 2011 with 110 million customers and over $6 billion in revenue. ``It is a very difficult decision to take, but it is all about creating efficiency by changing the way we operate,`` he told a press conference in Nairobi. Zain`s new business model, which is expected to inject a new lease of life in the company’s operations, involves downsizing, centralizing and merging certain key functions and outsourcing non-core functions. The strategy has been dubbed the `modular business model` is based on a successful implementation in Zain Saudi Arabia last year. The Kenya layoffs which targeted finance, sales, information technology, customer service and technical operations departments, come after the company`s ARPU went down to US$4 even before the full impact of the two new market entrants (Essar and Orange) have been felt. (Source: IPP Media) In brief:- Econet Wireless has paid for frequencies to the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) that would enable the country's leading mobile operator to roll out what it says are long overdue 3G services. - The Nigerian Communications Communication (NCC) will from next July commence the registration of all SIM cards the operational software running GSM mobile phones in the country. - In Zimbabwe, a revenue collection supervisor with TelOne allegedly sneaked into his office at night and stole US$111,000 and R47,000 before making a false report to police that there had been a robbery at the company. Connetty Gwede (35), who is based at the company's banking hall at Harare Main Post Office, is being charged with theft of trust property. - Mobile operators Zain Kenya and Essar Telecom Kenya (ETK, previously known as Econet Wireless Kenya) have agreed to share network infrastructure, Kenyan newspaper Daily Nation reports. The deal will see the two companies share around 300 base stations for the next 15 years. The Egyptian authorities have announced plans to loosen the restrictions on the use of GPS devices within the country. The National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) has lifted a ban on civilian use of GPS which had blocked the (official) import of most mid to high end mobile and smartphones. However, the NTRA will still need to authorise each type of GPS device imported into the country and will control any local manufacturing of the devices.
West African Cable System signs financing agreementThe long-awaited construction and maintenance agreement, to build the $640 million West African Cable System (WACS), was signed last Wednesday at Vodacom's head office, in Johannesburg. The signing of the agreement has been put off several times already, with the last scheduled date having been 11 March. A contractor to construct the cable also has not been formally announced, although it is expected to be Alcatel-Lucent. WACS grew out of the need to replace the Telkom-controlled SAT-3 cable, which is running out of capacity, and to break the telecommunications company's grip on international connectivity. The new system will operate on open access and non-discriminatory pricing principles but it will be a traditional type of telecoms shareholder model linking capacity to the amount of money each company puts in. “A big difference from the SAT-3 model is that, while the shareholders will build and operate the landing stations in their own countries, they will have to give other shareholders equal access. So the 'key-to-the-door' situation, as we have with Telkom, will not exist,” a source says. WACS shareholders are Telkom, Vodacom, MTN, Broadband Infraco and Neotel from SA. Telecoms companies from Namibia, Botswana and Angola will also have stakes, as will Vodafone (Spain) and British-owned Cable & Wireless. It is believed the cable has been oversubscribed, with last minute attempts made - as late as the day before the signing - by potential investors that were rejected. Sources close to the project say that it will be completed by the end of 2010 and that existing cables will be able to handle anticipated demand during the World Cup. (Source: ITWeb) Yahsat expands UAE presence in Africa with satellite broadband service by 2010The United Arab Emirates is increasing its stake in Africa's telecommunications market with Al Yah Satellite Communications' move, announced last week, to launch two satellites dedicated to providing cheap bandwidth. The company, also known widely as Yahsat, will provide cheap options for many businesses and rural communities in Africa, said Kevin Viret, Yahsat regional director-Africa. The "YahClick" service will be available in 2010 and the Yahsat 1B, a second satellite, will be launched in mid 2011, said Viret. Equipment to receive the satellite signal including VSAT dish, modem and cables will cost about $350 compared to $2,500 charged today, and a 512KB link will cost $30 per month. The launch of the satellites will consolidate the investments from the UAE led by Etisalat, which owns a 20 percent stake in The East Africa Marine System (TEAMS) fiber-optic cable. Etisalat is a major player in Africa's mobile phone market supporting voice, data and value added services in Niger, the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Benin, Gabon, Burkina Faso, Togo and the Central Africa Republic. Yahsat is a subsidiary of the government's Mubadala Development Company and will provide C-band and Ka-band coverage over the Middle East, Africa and Europe with a single beam. "The service is well equipped to offer cost effective communication links for applications such as corporate data networks, Internet trunking and GSM backhauling," said Salma Al Mansouri, communications manager at Yahsat. "YahLink" will be offered to a diverse customer base including telecom and cellular operators, ISPs, banks and financial institutions, oil and gas enterprises, construction companies, and government agencies, the company said. Last year, Mohammed Omran, Etisalat's chairman, said he expects operations in Africa to account for at least 25 percent of revenue within four years as 4 million customers are added in West Africa by the end of 2010. (Source: Computerworld Kenya) Online tax services offer cyber cafes a lifeline in KenyaCyber café operators stand a chance to widen their revenue stream by tapping into the government’s initiatives of providing services online. The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and Ministry of Immigration have come up with systems where people can track on the Internet or through mobile phones the progress of applications for documents like passports. The initiatives offer the cyber cafes opportunity to draw more customers, who are expected to start using the services in efforts to reduce travel costs and enjoy better services. In an effort to ensure the cyber café operators were conversant with the KRA forms and the system, the taxman will start training operators from last week. The authority intends to put a toll-free line that the operators will use to handle queries associated with the new system. Kennedy Wanyonyi, the deputy commissioner at KRA, said the training will be spread across the country beginning next week. “We intend to provide basic skills on how the operators can assist their clients fill in the forms,” said Wanyonyi. Some of the forms people can work on online are the Value Added Tax forms and the Personal Identification Number (PIN). According to latest statistics from Communications Commission of Kenya, the country has 3.3 million Internet users. Cyber cafés offering assistance have been asked not to charge extra fees. In an advertisement, KRA said it had “not prescribed any fees to be paid by cyber café for accessing KRA online services,” adding the businesses would be expected to stick to their regular rates. Most operators told Business Daily they welcomed the idea of training but asked KRA to make the system user-friendly. Richard Kariuki a technician at Cyberdome along Kimathi street, said the agency had to improve on speed. “If they improve on speed, it will make more money and they will be able to serve more people in a short time. It is a win-win situation” said Kariuki. J.J Manyara of Rajocyber who has trained his staff on the KRA online services, says the major drawback was the speed. “Being a service that is accessed by many people at the same time, KRA should ensure that their Internet capacity is always high,” said Manyara. He says in the morning when there are few people accessing the site, it takes an average five minutes to fill in the PIN form. But this rises to more than an hour by middday when more people sign in. He says the move was a pointer to increased business when more people start embracing the service. “Right now we serve around 200 clients on a good day down from 500 three years ago” he said, adding there was stiff competition in the business. (Source: Business Daily) In brief:- In South Africa, Vodacom leads the way among mobile operators with seven live fibre rings, and another four to go live before July. At a national level, Neotel, MTN and Vodacom have partnered to build a 5,000km national fibre network. The first leg of this network, which will connect Johannesburg and Durban, will be operational later this year. - A new search engine powered by Data Business Solutions is due to be launched in 2009. The search engine dubbed Tunisiaclick.com will address the needs of enterprises and individuals, will deliver real time fast and accurate data to companies. The engine which also boasts a large data base, will provide enterprises with the possibility to promote their products and brand names. - The Botswana Parliament launched its website. The website can be accessed by logging onto www.parliament.gov.bw - ND SatCom, an SES ASTRA company, received a 2-year frame contract from Q-KON, a leading service provider based in South Africa, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The contract was achieved in close cooperation with ND SatCom’s sister company SES ASTRA Africa. - Egyptian police have detained a Muslim Brotherhood blogger who backed calls for a national day of protests against the government, security sources said on Sunday. Police arrested Abdel Rahman Fares, 25, in the province of Fayoum, southwest of Cairo, while he was handing out flyers calling for the protests. - South Africa’s Department of Communications (DOC) welcomes any input from private organisations on the development of a national broadband strategy but only once it has produced its own strategy, already several years in the making. The DoC was responding to a national framework for broadband development drawn up by the National Broadband Forum. It is made up of the Association for Progressive Communications, SA Connect, the Shuttleworth Foundation and the Southern African NGO Network. - Tunisia’s number of subscribers to ADSL reached 212,500 in 2008, 46% of them are using bandwidth exceeding 512 kilobytes/second, compared with 114,200 in 2007, i.e. a 86% rise. The number of subscribers making use of bandwidth exceeding 1 Megabyte reached 36,000 by the end of last year, compared with 7,800 in 2007. The number of web-sites reached 6,467 at the end of 2008, compared with 5,796 in 2007, i.e. a 12% rise.
Zinox to Create Computer Shops Nationwide in NigeriaComputerise Nigeria Project (CNP), one of the projects of Zinox Technologies that is aimed at increasing information technology penetration in the country, has come up with a new strategy to launch computer shops across the country. These computer shops, to be known as CNP Arena, will be established in each of the six geopolitical zones of the country, with each zone having two and Abuja one, in the first phase. Revealing the new strategy, its Chairman Prof. Oye Ibidapo-Obe said the CNP Arena will be launched in the next six months, and that thereafter, it will be expanded to all state capital, all local government areas across the country. According to its Chairman, the CNP Arena is entirely new concept that is focused at pushing further the frontiers of IT penetration in the country. The new strategy is such that every CNP Arena will consist of a wide range of IT products from various brands like HP, Toshiba, Zinox, Acer, among others at a low cost. Speaking on the strategy adopted to further reduce cost, Ibidapo-Obe said all the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) that are involved in the project, have been approached by CNP and that they have agreed to cut down on their overhead cost, a position that will drive cost to the lowest pricing ever. He said all computer products from various brands like Toshiba, HP, Zinox, Acer will be on display on the shelves of all CNP Arena in all its location. Ibidapo-Obe noted that before now, the CNP was marketing only the Zinox brand of computers but has had to accommodate more brands on the CNP stable because of the need to give the consumer greater choices and stabilize its prices. He informed that in spite of the new strategy and present disposition that only internationally certified brands will find a place on the shelves at the CNP Arena and confirmed that Computerise Nigeria Project has entered into strong partnership with OEMs in order to deliver value at a highly reduced total cost of ownership to the Nigerian consumers. The Chairman, however explained that CNP will only sell products to individuals, co-operatives, educational institutions, and other organized associations. (Source: Daily Independent) Ghana’s Customs upgrades its automated processing systemThe Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) has improved upon its existing technology base by upgrading its automated system for processing declarations and clearance processes as a step towards maximizing its revenue generation. Mrs. Angelina Bainiah, Assistant Commissioner at the Information Technology Department of the Service who spoke to The Chronicle in an interview explained that the new technology called -The Ghana Customs Management System (GCMS), which is an upgraded version of an earlier technology employed by CEPS to help maximize revenue generation. She added that the new technology has the capacity to integrate cargo manifests electronically from carriers to the system, select cargo to be examined through its risk management module, validate declarations, record customs payments and generate related reports. She said the new system allows carriers to send their declaration electronically to customs for verification after which the service will electronically be sent for examination. This, she said, would reduce the transaction time and errors which had hitherto characterize the manual handling of these transactions. The Commission launched The Ghana Customs Management System GCMS in 2003, in collaboration with the Ghana Community Network Services (GCNet), which saw revenue mobilisation of CEPS surge to an appreciable figure from GH¢600 million, in 2002, to GH¢1.93 million. The new system, CEPS said, provided greater field space for goods description, capturing of the actual arrival, departure and discharge dates of carriers, new warehousing module to facilitate an improved inventory control or warehoused and ex-warehoused goods, as well as free zone consignment, while temporary vehicle importation and head load modules had also been redesigned to make them simpler. (Source: The Chronicle) EMC anticipates growth in AfricaEMC expects to grow its local and regional operations, in spite of the worsening economic crisis. “We want to grow the region [Southern, Central and East Africa] into a $1 billion organisation by the end of 2009,” says Gerhard van der Merwe, country manager for EMC SA. The company's African operations are spread across 66 countries, with 22 of those in the Southern, Central and East Africa region. Van der Merwe says, despite an anticipated tough 18-24 months locally, the company still expects a good performance. “We anticipate growth for EMC locally. But it is going to be tough and we are going to have to innovate.” He adds the company is spurred on by new ideas in the market and excitement over cloud computing and increasing requirements for backup and demand services. Another area that is promising is the outsourcing and solution providers, and the change in the way they will use certain products, he notes. EMC will prioritise four themes in 2009 to achieve its goals. Reducing cost, complying with governance and regulations, reducing complexity and preparing itself for next-generation networks will form the key drivers for the year. In line with its themes, the company will focus on producing strong financial results and having world-class partners, increasing and strengthening its portfolio, he explains. The key to strong financial results lies in investing and innovating, Van der Merwe adds. Research and development has always been key but is even more important in these times, he points out. Van der Merwe says consumer trends are driving increasing demands for storage solutions. He states that despite 70% of digital content produced by individuals, 85% of this data remains the responsibility of organisations. “There is more digital information coming through in each year. We are having to manage and secure this information and provide security, privacy, reliability and compliance, while managing information risk.” Storage in 2009 will continue to provide storage consolidation, business continuity, compression and efficiency for the data centre. SSD Tuned arrays will also change the market this year, Van der Merwe states. He adds these solutions which combine SATA drives with SSD allow information to be positioned according to the value a customer places on it - and it's cost-effective, making it a key solution for this year. Broadband will also make life easier for EMC and its customers. “There have been important changes in the last two years. As costs go down, connections to data centres will decrease and customers who were previously reluctant are becoming more comfortable with our data centres.” In November, the country expanded its operations in Kenya, which it says is the hub of East Africa. Now the company is looking at other countries, such as Angola. (Source: ITWeb) In Brief:- While listing conditions for deploying a robust e-voting machine for 2011 general elections, the independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) in partnership with the Nigerian Computer Society, (NCS) have expressed fears, saying that bureaucratic bottleneck may derail the adoption e-voting machine for the electoral process. - A fourth regional centre of information and communication technologies (ICTs) will be soon created , declared Hamid Bessalah, Minister of Postal Services and ICTs. Algeria has currently three regional centres in Algiers, Oran and Annaba, and a fourth similar structure is to be set up in the southern region of the country, the minister told a working session on the e-Algérie-2013 strategy, which brought together the sector's executives and the province's directors. - Tunisia’s Communication Technologies Minister El Hadj Gley announced, during a news conference held in Tunis, that the information and communication technologies (ICTs) sector recorded a 17.8% growth rate in 2008, bringing its contribution to GDP up to 10%, compared with 9% in 2007.
Etisalat Nigeria shares for salePremium Telecommunications Holdings Limited (PTHL) is offering for sale shares in Etisalat Nigeria, totalling around 17.5% of the company. The offer priced at US$10 per share, is worth around US$350 million or N56 billion at a conversion rate of N160 to the dollar. The placement is being done to enable a greater number of Nigerian nationals and companies to participate in the opportunity. By acquiring shares in PTHL, potential investors will acquire indirect interests in Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services (EMTS). Etisalat is a United Arab Emirates-based provider of telecommunications services and a publicly listed company on the Abu Dhabi Securities Market with a market capitalisation of US$27 billion as of September 30, 2008. The company was established in 1976 and 60 percent is owned by the United Arab Emirates government with the balance owned held by the public. (Source: IT News Africa) Econet Kenya changes name to ward off undesired suitorsEconet Wireless Kenya has changed its name to Essar Telecommunication Kenya Limited to discourage investors from buying off one of its shareholders. The move was initiated by Essar Communication Holdings (ESL), that owns a 34.3 per cent stake in the firm, after suitors got interested in the 35.7 per cent stake owned by Econet Wireless International. “We are changing the name to stop rumours that have been going on and which are made possible because of the history of this license,” said Mr Srinivasa Iyengar, the firms’s CEO. Econet Wireless Kenya was first licensed to roll out mobile phone services in 2004 but court battles among its shareholders and its failure to pay the license fee delayed its roll out until last November, after Indian firm ESL bought 49 per cent of the 70 per cent stake held by Econet. Econet Wireless has operations in seven African countries where they have sparked buyout talks. Iyengar said the rumours, and the fact that its financial base is smaller compared to that of Essar, have intensified buyout speculation. In recent weeks, word has gone around to the effect that South African-owned mobile phone services company MTN Group was keen on buy a stake held by Econet Group. The speculation disturbed Econet Wireless Kenya management, fearing that it may make the company appear unsettled at a time when it’s struggling to a get a foothold in the competitive local mobile telephony market. In a market where having top talent is emerging as a weapon for market share growth, buyout news were likely to worry the firm’s employees leading to high turnover. The firm became the fourth mobile operator in the country and has been working to grow its subscriber base in a market that Zain Kenya and Safaricom have maintained a stranglehold, with the twin firms estimated to control about 94 per cent of the market, according to figures by Renaissance Capital. Essar Telecommunication Kenya claims to have signed up about 250,000 subscribers, which translates to a market share of about 1.5 per cent of Kenya’s 16 million subscribers. However, Business Daily could not independently verify the figures. Essar Telecommunication Kenya said it would retain its current shareholding structure and the Yu brand that it has been using to market its products in the Kenyan market. Its other shareholders include Starnet Limited, that owns 26 per cent, while Corporate Africa and Crosslink each owns a two per cent stake. “We have notified Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) of the change of name. However, we do not need their approval since shareholding remains the same,” said Mr Iyengar. The firm rollout it services last November after braving fives years of legal and financial setbacks. This followed the acquisition of a 49 per cent stakes in Econet Wireless International EWI by Essar Communication Holdings (ECHL), a subsidiary of Essar Global. Part of the money that ECHL paid to Econet Wireless International was injected into the Kenyan operation. (Source: Business Daily) Nine companies compete for Abyssinia Banks's 45 Million Br E-Banking Installation in EthiopiaNine international companies are competing for Abyssinia Bank's core banking solution installation project estimated to cost 45 million Br; the project will lead to the launch of an e-banking system by the bank, or to Abyssinia joining other banks with the same ambition. "Once we are done with the installation of the infrastructure system, then we are willing to join with any bank," Chanyalew Yelma, acting president of the Bank, told Fortune.He was referring to a private banking syndicate formed by three commercial banks - Awash, United and Nib - on February 19, 2009, to start an integrated multi-channel banking system. Officials at the bank hope that the finalization of the 45 million Br project will enable them to start banking services through Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), Points of Sale (POS) and Internet before the end of the current year. The nine contending companies - three Indian, two Middle Eastern, two European, one US based and one African - are from the about 15 companies who bought the tender document from the bank; the remaining ones had not returned the documents with their offers for the bid announced on January 19, 2009, within the deadline Abyssinia had set from January 26 to March 26, 2009. The nine companies waiting for the decision by Abyssinia Bank's Tender Committee, which started evaluating the technical capacity and financial offers of the companies on March 27, 2009, are ETA-info Tech of Dubai; Path Solutions of Lebanon; Neptune Plc of the United Kingdom; Techno Brain Ltd of Tanzania; Delta Informatique of France; Transnational Computer Technology of El Segundo, California (US); as well as HCL Infosystem, Infrasoft and Virmati Software & Telecommunication Ltd of India. About seven private and state banks, including some younger than Abyssinia, had already installed the core banking system ahead of one of the earliest private commercial bank in the country. Sysfocon, an Indian company, has been advising Abyssinia in its core banking system project from the start; it was involved from the preparation of the bid document up to the evaluation. The company will also continue providing consultancy services to the bank in the implementation stage, Chanyalew said. Though it started working on the key IT infrastructure that is considered a foundation to the launch of advanced services, including e-banking, the IT and Procurement department at Abyssinia are now busy on the bank's drive to have the core banking solutions operational before 2009 ends and join those already on this banking block. So far, the bank has been using an in-house developed system. "The bank has been undertaking a comprehensive study of the infrastructure and experiences of other banks to select the most appropriate banking technology companies," Getachew Negash, Public Relations manager of the bank, told Fortune in justification of Abyssinia's late entrance to e-banking. More than a week ago, Abyssinia became the seventh commercial bank to host the settlement and clearance of payments for the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX), though it was the first bank that the latter approached. "Abyssinia was the first bank which ECX approached prior to launching trade operations," Eleni told Fortune. Abyssinia and ECX, represented by Chanyalew Yilma, acting president and Eleni Gabre-Medhin (PhD), CEO, respectively, signed the agreement on March 24, 2009, at the latter's trading facility in Cheleleq Alsam Building, along Smuts Street near Mexico Square. Chanyalew pledged his bank's commitment to providing the required service. Under the agreement, Abyssinia handles online settlement services for the daily commodity transactions at ECX through its settlement system, which has already been networked to the commodity exchange institute. Through the electronic banking system the ECX gets from the seven commercial banks, it transfers money from buyers to sellers' accounts whenever there is an effective transaction at the trading floor. The commodities exchange facilitator, operating as a third party, is in charge of making decisions on transfers of money across accounts. ECX is preparing to start new frontiers of electronic trading, futures trading and inventory financing which enable the use of warehouses receipts for bank loans security. The commodities exchange institute has signed similar agreements with the state owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) and the privates Dashen, Awash International, United, Nib International and Wegagen banks. Though preceded by younger banks like United and Nib, Abyssinia managed to join the group after it finalized the installation of online banking solutions two months ago. ECX depends on the availability of an electronic banking interface to facilitate the transactions it hosts, for which it takes 0.2pc of the total value of every effective transaction as a service charge. (Source: Addis Fortune) CGAP partners with WIZZIT to bank the South African unbankedCGAP, a microfinance group based at the World Bank, is supporting WIZZIT Bank to deliver banking services to poor people in South Africa’s small towns and rural areas. WIZZIT is a division of the South African Bank of Athens Limited. Three major pilot projects run by WIZZIT Bank in South Africa are being supported by CGAP, which are all based on WIZZIT’s pioneering mobile phone-based banking system. With a population of around 500,000 people, Motherwell is a bustling area of activity and a melting pot of African culture in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. “As with many similar peri-urban areas in South Africa, Motherwell is dotted with hundreds of small businesses and spaza shops, which service the community with everything from cold beverages, bread, milk, haircuts, beer and even clothing - forming the basis for the community’s economy,” Richardson says. “Currently in Motherwell, there are an estimated five major suppliers that deliver dairy products, baked goods, beverages and basic commodities to between 10 and 20 wholesalers, which, in turn, service an estimated 555 spaza shops,” he says. In the wholesaler-distributor relationship, it is generally accepted that the wholesaler will pay the distributor’s driver in cash for the delivery of a consignment of stock. The driver then takes the cash back to the distributor’s head office where a number of people in a secure counting room sort any counterfeit notes form real notes and count remaining money. This cash is then collected by a cash management company and deposited at the bank for a fee. Apart from the costs associated with handling cash, the security aspect is one that remains top-of-mind for employers. With truck drivers sometimes carrying tens of thousands of rands at a time, they are soft targets for hijackers and thieves, who operate quite extensively in these peri-urban areas. “Utilising the same mobile phone-based banking technology, WIZZIT has introduced a unique and innovative payment system that allows wholesalers to pay money directly from their WIZZIT bank account to the distributor’s bank account for goods purchased - eliminating the need to pay the delivery drivers in cash,” Richardson points out. “In addition to eliminating cash, the system avoids any form of fraud (i.e., through manipulated SMS confirmation messages) at all times by requesting the confirmation code form the driver - which authenticates the transaction.” As part of the funding received by CGAP for the rollout of this payment system, wholesalers will be incentivised to promote WIZZIT amongst their spaza shop customers to both utilise it as payment channel for buying goods and for selling goods to consumers. A major feature of the WIZZIT system is the ability to buy cellular airtime, which will introduce a cost-effective revenue generation opportunity for spaza shop owners - being able to sell airtime on the spot or give customers the necessary tool to buy their own airtime on demand. Dunns a leading South African retailer aimed particularly at lower income earners in urban, peri-urban and rural areas, are trusted brands for clothes, shoes and other accessories. Leveraging that “trusted brand” status amongst lower income earners, unbanked people will now be able to open WIZZIT bank accounts at selected Dunns retail outlets. “Retailers such as Dunns and DFX face a challenge in the areas that they operate because up to 90% of the transactions that they conclude with their customers are cash-based, which means that these retailers incur huge cost and risk in handling cash on a daily basis,” Richardson explains. “The obvious solution is to promote increased usage of debit cards amongst customers for everyday purchases; however, this in itself poses a challenge because the vast majority of people who shop at Dunns and DFX belong to a lower LSM and cannot afford to maintain or perceive that they do not qualify for even a basic bank account from one of the major banks. “The benefits of using a debit card for purchases aside - such as lower bank fees from withdrawing ATM cash and increased security because money is safe in the bank - the ability to utilise a debit card to make a purchase has an aspirational quality that really appeals to consumers,” he says. In addition, less cash on the premises means that Dunns has fewer security risks and spends less money on processing and handling the cash until it is finally deposited into its bank account. To promote the adoption and usage of WIZZIT bank accounts and debit cards in Dunns stores, customers will be incentivised in an attempt to convert them from cash to card based purchases. The initial pilot project at Dunns will be in selected stores, after which the project will be rolled out to the remaining 289 Dunns and DFX stores nationwide. The funding received from CGAP will aid the rollout of an extensive marketing campaign, as well as training staff on the principles of bank accounts, how they work, how they benefit customers and how to open a WIZZIT account. Covering an area of just under 124,000km2, Limpopo Province is South Africa’s 3rd most densely populated province. And of the estimated 5.4m people living in the province, around 80% are unbanked - essentially excluding the vast majority of its residents from meaningful participation in the country’s economy. As part of the strategy to help reduce the huge dependency on cash in this area, it has identified the critical need to bank the unbanked majority that live in the province. “WIZZIT, having successfully brought mobile banking to many unbanked people in other parts of South Africa, is taking its mobile banking model into Limpopo, where it hopes to give the people who live in the province easy and affordable access to full transactional banking,” Richardson says. “Apart from the aspiration value that a bank account has for the man on the street, it’s much safer than storing and carrying cash around - particularly on or around payday. Opening a bank account if you’re a consumer is as easy as making a call to a dedicated call centre and collecting their bank card from their nearest Post Office. This model is particularly exciting as this is the first time a bank in South Africa has embarked on a direct sales strategy to ensure that people living in even the remotest parts of the country are able to easily apply for and own a fully-functional transactional bank account. WIZZIT will be able to reach more un-banked people by expanding on its WIZZKid model and its ability to engage directly with people on-the-ground on a face-to-face basis - as well as utilising the Post Office - the largest branch infrastructure in the South Africa with 2800 outlets - 288 of them in Limpopo Province. “Employers can also benefit hugely from WIZZIT’s entry into Limpopo because they can contact a WIZZIT bank business consultant to come to the business’s premises and open accounts for all its employees,” he adds. Utilising WIZZIT’s online payroll system, iWIZZ, they can easily pay their employees directly into their WIZZIT bank accounts with a few easy mouse clicks. Money transfers are instantaneous and the business saves money on bank fees immediately by not having to withdraw cash to pay its employees. In brief:- Negotiations to potentially delist the Huge Group in South Africa have not distracted its managers from making another acquisition. The deal sees Huge pay an undisclosed amount for African Paradigm Communications, which trades as One Communications and VoCall. It provides least-cost routing services, which save money on corporate phone bills by diverting calls on to the cheapest available network.. - Anabel Group, the parent company of Anabel Mobile, one of Nigeria's Smart phone and other telecommunications equipment manufacturers, has signed a mega Initiative with the electronics members of Alaba international market. Under the terms of the arrangement, the deal provides Anabel brand, the opportunity to make major inroad into the Alaba market as well as it gives it the responsibility to globally expose Alaba market to the world. - Mmobile Telecommunication (MTech) launched the first mobile phone manufacturing plant in Lusaka in Zambia at a cost of US$10 million. The plant, wholly owned by locals and supported by the government and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, will create 200 jobs for among others engineers and technicians. - Cisco will open its first office in Tunisia, on April 8, 2009. - Telkom South Africa has extended its contract with strategic branding consultancy Interbrand Sampson for a further two years. - Construction of a multi-billion shilling information technology park in Kenya is set to start in July. The government has appointed a lead transaction adviser and set aside 5,000 acres of land in Athi River for the project, which is expected to employ 10,000 people. Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage (briefs)- Vodacom Tanzania has introduced a new Kama Kawaida campaign that enables its subscribers to make calls at the local rates of the country they are visiting. The subscriber can enjoy the roaming service to countries in Eastern Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi). Vodacom customers can continue to top up with Safaricom vouchers while roaming with Safaricom in Kenya, while in Uganda, they can top up with either MTN or UTL vouchers, in Rwanda, they can recharge with MTN vouchers, and in Burundi they can use UCom vouchers to recharge their accounts. - Millicom Ghana, operators of Tigo, in partnership with Research In Motion (RIM), has launched the new Black Berry Bold (BBB), with a special Tigo post-paid package for its valuable customers in the Ghanaian market. - MTN has hit the four-million subscriber mark, reinforcing its position as the leading telecommunications company in Uganda. - Neotel, South Africa’s SNO is starting to gain ground in the consumer and small business market, signing up around 150 new NeoConnect and NeoFlex subscribers per day. This growth is significant for any new entrant in the market, but it would have been far higher if Neotel had more extensive network coverage.
Pick n Pay makes Ukash vouchers available in South AfricaUK voucher-based prepaid online payments provider Ukash has partnered with South African retailer Pick n Pay to make the Ukash vouchers available at the latter's 750 outlets across the region. Under the terms of the deal, South African customers can use Ukash vouchers to make payments online by exchanging cash for a voucher in ZAR 10 (USD 1.07), ZAR 50 (USD 5.39), ZAR 100 (USD 10.78), ZAR 200 (USD 21.57), ZAR 500 (USD 53.92), ZAR 1000 (USD 107.85) and ZAR 1500 (USD 161.77) denominations at Pick n Pay stores. Every Ukash electronic voucher contains a unique 19-digit code which can be used to pay online on South African websites which accept Ukash as a payment method, such as wantitall.co.za online store, South African internet auction website bidorbuy and social networks mig33 and mibli. Ukash is available at over 275,000 locations in Europe and South Africa. Pick n Pay provides retailing food, clothing, and general merchandise in South Africa and Australia. (Source: The Paypers) Mobile advertising platform to launch in NigeriaAdvertfarm, a mobile content provider which focuses on delivering mobile content to users across Africa via sms, has branched into Nigeria. With over 200 million mobile subscribers in Africa, it allows advertisers to target a specific base of consumers based on various demographic and interest based criteria. “Advertfarm is currently running its pilot mode only in Nigeria and will launch it 2-WAY SMS interactive system by July 2009. This system would include features such as “SMS Service Un-subscription” where subscribers to a particular service could un-subscribe for certain services without having to visit the web portal. We will be launching services in other African countries in the next quarter”, a company spokesperson said. Advertfarm sends localized subscribed mobile content to its network members, matching the content with customer interests. The company also gives users total control over the frequency and number of advertisements they want to receive. (Source: IT News Africa)
People- Mobile operator MTN has reshuffled some of its foreign managers. The latest moves see Themba Khumalo, CEO of MTN Rwanda, transfer to become the CEO in Uganda. He has previously served as an executive at MTN SA and CEO of MTN Swaziland. Khaled Mikkawi, former CEO of MTN's operations in Liberia, will become CEO of MTN Rwanda. Mikkawi was with Investcom for nine years before that company was acquired in 2006. Erik van Veen, the chief operating officer in Uganda, has become CEO of MTN Zambia. Other switches have been made in Guinea Bissau, Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire. Anthony Masozera, the current Chief Finance Officer (CFO) for MTN Rwanda, has been appointed the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN Guinea Bissau. South Africa’s Minister of Communications, Dr. Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, died last week. Matsepe-Casaburri, who was born in South Africa’s Free State province, has been actively involved in the country’s Information and Communication Technology sector since her return from political excile in 1990, including holding senior positions in the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Matsepe-Casaburri was 71 years old. Events*AFTLD ANNUAL EVENT 13-17 April 2009, Arusha, Tanzania Under the theme "Securing Africa’s Internet Infrastructure”, the AfTLD annual African ccTLD event for 2009 will include a detailed three (3) day technical training workshop on Attack/Disaster Contingency and Recovery Planning(A/DCRP) for technical managers and staff of ccTLDs. AfTLD. The event is jointly organized and generously hosted by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) and the Tanzania Network Information Centre (.tzNIC). For further information visit <http://www.aftld.org> * TELECOMFINANCE MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA 2009 28th - 29th April 2009, Park Hyatt Hotel, Dubai The third annual TelecomFinance Middle East & Africa Conference will offer true Middle Eastern & African coverage and will feature one full day on each region with overlapping themes throughout. Backed by years of high quality reporting on emerging markets telecom financing in its eponymous monthly magazine, TelecomFinance has the network and the know-how to provide the best insight into the developing Middle Eastern and ever more attractive African markets. For further information visit: <http://www.telecomfinance.com/mea2009> * Mobile Banking & Financial Services Africa 20-22 July 2009, Southern Sun Grayston Hotel, Johannesburg Building on the highly successful inaugural event last year, the conference will again deliver timely insights into the key business, technical and security considerations that all players in the mobile banking and payments industry in Africa must address. For more information and to book your place now, call +44 (0)20 7017 7483 or e-mail your registration to us at registrations@iir-telecoms.com or book online at http://www.iir-events.com/IIR-Conf/page.aspx?id=19296 * MMT 09 - Mobile Money Transfer 26-27 October2009, Dubai. MMT 09 is a 'must attend' event for anyone who is serious about remittances. Over 350 mobile network operators, microfinance institutions, money transfer networks, banks and technology providers will converge at MMT 09 to discuss the best ways to make money from mobile money transfer. Nowhere else in the world will you find so many MMT project leaders all gathered in one place. For more information visit www.mobile-money-transfer.com http://www.mobile-money-transfer.com or email harpreet.sohanpal@clarionevents.com Jobs and Opportunities* Ericsson Mss O & M Engineers - Malawi The company, a worldwide player in the telecoms has asked as to recruit Ericsson Core Network Engineer ability to write MOSHELL scripts and use EMAS. Perform daily O & M activities for MGW,MSC-S,MSC,BSC,SCP,HLR on R12 APG40 O & M ,Back-up on Windows 2003. Write DT from MML commands and up-load Knowledge of Ericsson tools for tracing and O&M Knowledge of Sigtran and SS7. For further information visit http://www.cellular-news.com/recruitment/list_job.php?uid=6598 Contracts* Zain and Tekelec - Nigeria Zain Nigeria, Zain Group’s largest mobile network operator, has selected network signaling company Tekelec to help its migration to an all-IP network. This move will enable Zain Nigeria to offer its subscribers the multimedia applications typically associated with the more advanced IP network on its current network, effectively delivering tomorrow’s applications on today’s networks. * Africell and Harris Stratex Networks - Sierra Leone/Gambia Africell Holding has selected equipment vendor Harris Stratex Networks to expand its GSM networks in Sierra Leone and Gambia. The deployment of 90 links of Eclipse high-capacity radios, which are optimised for networks with flexible, high-bandwidth capabilities and native gigabit Ethernet interfaces, began in December as part of a contract valued at USD1.9 million. * MTN and Motorola - Ghana Motorola has announced a three-year, multi-million dollar managed network optimisation service contract with MTN Ghana, a leading cellular operator in the West African nation. According to Motorola spokesperson, Yasmeen Engelbrecht, under the terms of the agreement, Motorola would provide GSM radio access network optimization services to improve performance of MTN Ghana’s multi-vendor network.
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